Happy Birthday
by NoNewName
Summary: Young enough to remember, old enough to care...Corbett brother bonding, no slash


Old Enough

"So Leo's birthday tomorrow?" Kai asked breaking the silence of command.

He was sitting at the helm of Terra Venture, exhausted beyond belief, not so much due to the early hours he found himself covering, but rather the fact that Trakeena had been attacking Terra Venture almost non-stop.

Mike Corbett looked back at his friend and co-worker, "Yeah it is." he answered simply.

Kai glanced up at Mike, who was literally staring into space, "How old…"

"Twenty," the oldest Corbett answered shortly. "He'll be twenty."

Two hours later the two young men made wearily made their way to there room, both of them distracted. Other than few commands and regular routing comments, silence had reigned in command headquarters for the rest of their shift.

"Night," Kai spoke up, making his way around the corner into the room he shared with the green ranger, Damon Henderson.

Leo had moved in with Mike shortly after Mike's return, claiming that "someone needs to watch out to make sure Mike doesn't do something stupid. Again." Leo had flashed his trademark grin, hoisted his sole bag of –things (None of the other rangers had ever understood how Leo could stowaway on board with a few pictures, a few books, a notebook, and a pen-knife, but had only brought one shirt and a clean pair of underwear along else wise) - onto his shoulder and moved in with his brother. Young enough to know his brother would always have his back; old enough to have his brother's back too

Neither man nor boy had ever offered any other explanation.

"Leo, you should be asleep by now," Mike said, tension permeating his features, as he spoke to the younger Corbett. Leo was sitting by the window, looking at the stars, a blanket wrapped around his knees, his eyes half-open.

"Couldn't sleep," he mumbled. Still old enough to look young enough when tired.

"What's wrong," Mike asked coming closer to Leo. "This is the fourth night in a row you haven't been able to sleep."

"I can count Mike," the younger Corbett snapped…"Sorry bro," he whispered, 'I guess I'm more on edge than I thought I was. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"It's okay," Mike said. Sitting across from Leo, Mike could plainly see the circles under the boy's eyes and the tear tracks on his cheeks. "What's wrong?"

Leo didn't answer right away. He would open his mouth to speak, close it again. Biting his lip, he suddenly looked so much younger than his twenty-year-old-minus-one-day than he was. Actually, Mike realized, technically it was Leo's birthday.

'Happy Birthday Leo."

"Thanks. Mike…" he trailed off, the inflection in his voice the only thing giving away that he had something more to say.

"Mike, do you remember when we…when mom and dad first…when I first…" he had no idea how to phrase the question he seemed so desperate to ask.

"When mom and dad adopted you?" Mike finished for his little brother.

Leo had been fours years old when he was adopted. The boys' parents had been looking to adopt, when Isabella and Lucas Corbett learned she would not be able to bear another child. Mike had 7 at the time and had dutifully followed his parents around as they tried to adopt another little boy. "It'll be fun to have a little brother," they would say trying to woo him over.

It had not worked, when the Corbett adults adopted Leo, Mike had done his 7 year old best to torment the four year enough so that he would regret "stealing my ma and dad," he would say.

It had close to a year of silently tormenting Leo who never once spoke up against Mike, before he realized he was actually a little fond of the kid.

"Sorry for all the hell I put you through," he spoke up, smirking.

Leo looked up at Mike, 'It's okay. I don't really remember it well."

'You were so young." Mike said trailing off.

Indeed, Leo had been young. Old enough for nightmares, Mike never knew or understood. Old enough for traumas that turned sweet, young Leo into the rebellious teenager Mike and their (long-dead) parents had not recognized and not seen coming. But just young enough to not realize that being super-glued into your bed wasn't a good thing.

"So," he started brightly, trying to lighten the somber room of the dark and silent room. Well, silent, except for the wind from the air ducts in the ceiling and the drip-drip of water in the faucet. Even the great mechanics of Terra Venture, couldn't figure that out. "So," he started again trailing off. What more can be said? All Mike knew was that his brother was upset over something, wasn't speaking, and was one terrible year older. It seemed that with every moment that passed, Leo grew a light-year older.

"I never told you Leo. Not really. I'm really proud of you. How you handled things when I was gone."

Leo looked up slowly, refocusing his eyes so that his piercing green eyes met the older Corbett's pale grey eyes.

"Thanks." That was it. No thank you, no comment, no response. Thanks, in that numb, monotone voice that Mike had never heard before, though its sound sparked something in his heart.

"Shit Leo. I'm sorry. I forget."

"It's okay. You remembered eventually."

This would be the first year in so many that the boys were together on Leo birthday, but Mike had forgotten that Leo had stopped celebrating his birthday years ago. When he realized it wasn't his day, just a day generically assigned to him all those years ago, when the sisters who had found him abandoned on the steps of the church all those years ago gave him a birthday. The days he had been left in the rain and the cold at barely a few days old. Leo was not old enough to remember this, but he was young enough to still feel the burn.

Fini

--Don't own it, but the muses won't leave me alone.


End file.
